The present invention relates to a clamping device, more particularly to a clamping device suitable for attaching to large fish such as marlin, tuna, sail fish, etc., after the fish has been caught and brought to the fishing vessel.
In the usual practice of deep sea fishing for large fish, after the fish has been caught and reeled on a fishing line to approach the fishing vessel, a significant effort is necessary to bring the fish on board. Various lines and devices are used to tow the fish and to hoist the fish out of the water.
One approach has been to grasp the fish by securing a device to the gill area and then using the device to pull the fish on board. Unfortunately, in such a practice, the tail section of the fish may remain active sometimes causing injury to people or other damage.
Various clamping devices have been proposed to solve the foregoing problem. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,000,576 there is described a clamping apparatus which utilizes two clamping members pivotally connected at a common point and a leaf spring connected to each member which tends to force them together. The leaf spring may be connected to the end of a rod long enough to distance the holder from the object to be clamped. This particular device, an actuating element operable from the remote end of the rod is connected to the extended ends of the clamping members such that when the clamping members are opened they are held in an open position until a manual operation of the actuating device initiates the closure of the clamping members.
A disadvantage of the above-described clamping apparatus is that it requires remote operation by the holder for both the clamping and holding steps. Furthermore, the operator is required to pull a drawstring to effect the clamping action and tension must be maintained by the operator on the actuating means which typically consists of a pull line. In addition, tension is required to keep the clamping apparatus closed in order to secure the fish or target object.
Another device for clamping large fish is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,605. This patent describes a Cheliform using spring biased jaws held in the open position by a trigger mechanism.
Still another fish retrieving device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,833,252 which is directed to an apparatus having a pair of jaws which engage the fish from both sides with tip portions of the jaws designed to pierce the fish. A trigger is included which holds a slide in a cocked position and which may be released in order to permit the jaws to grasp the fish. Still another clamping device utilizing clamping members pivoted about a common point is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,283. This patent is directed to a mooring apparatus for detachably securing a boat to a convenient stationary object.